Normal high flows began on Dec. 1 and are scheduled to continue through January. These high flows are very good for the river . . . and ultimately all of us. They feed the fish by moving large food items around. The flows are 10,000 to 18,000-cfs and will be lower on weekends. Lower flows should prevail for the spring. It is possible that the flows might be adjusted upward if there is an above normal snowpack in the Rockies.\n

It has been a very interesting fall-winter season on the river. So far, winter has passed us by and it has been one of the mildest that I can remember. The high flow event came and went with little change on the river. The most notable occurrence was the extreme low flows before and after the high flow event for the entire month of November. This was the first time that we have seen flows this low in decades and if we have any say in the matter, it will be the last time. The low flows combined with warmer-than-normal river temperatures, thereby creating low oxygen levels from the dam releases. As a result, we saw a rapid decline in some fish condition and we lost some fish. There are areas of the river that were more impacted than others; while some areas saw no decline in fish health or population. We saw almost exactly the same thing in 2005. Lake Powell was considerably lower then and the water was even warmer than this year. The good news is that we had a very healthy trout population beforehand and we have a very good population today.\u00a0\u00a0 We\u2019re still seeing slightly warmer temperatures in the river which has happened a couple of times in years past when Lake Powell is low and receives a large runoff. Current river temperatures are running about 55 degrees which is about 7 degrees warmer than normal for this time of year \u2026 Optimal temperature for rainbow trout is 55 to 60 degrees so we are well within normal trout temperatures. The river temperatures should return to normal when Lake Powell \u201cturns over,\u201d which should happen any day now.\n

Recent fishing has been good and we expect the fish to begin spawning any day now. The spawn has begun later every year and while the peak spawn used to occur in early winter it now peaks in March.\n

There has been an ongoing aquatic food base study taken place over the past couple of years. The purpose of this study is multifaceted:\n

\n

Examining the relationship of flows on food production;\n

Taking inventory of and monitoring populations of aquatic insects and invertebrates that live in the river; and\n

Other critical aspects of the aquatic food base.\n\n

I believe that this is by far the most important study that has ever been conducted on this river. Previously, hundreds of millions of dollars has been spent studying sediment while ignoring the aquatic food base and resource. Common sense dictates that fish, birds, and animals do not live off of dirt or sand. The aquatic food base and habitat are the foundation for all that lives in the Colorado River. One of the long term goals of the food base study is to determine how to enhance the populations and production of aquatic insects in the river which will benefit native fish, trout, and migratory bird populations. This is a study and a goal that we can all embrace!\n

There is currently a 65% chance that there will be an El Nino event in 2015. Strong El Ninos almost always bring big snow packs to the Rockies which could help to fill both Lake Powell and Lake Mead.\n

Be sure to stop by the shop to see the flies that are currently working. The flies change on a daily basis and every day the LFA guides let everyone at the shop know the top producing flies and how to use them.\n","walkinsum":"

Note: This will be the last report from Dean. He\u2019s retiring and in the near future you\u2019ll likely run into him on a stream somewhere. From all of us here, best of luck Dean!\n

The fishing has been good with the higher flows. The first couple of days, scuds were really on fire. However, this week the clouds and fog have moved in and it has been difficult to get any sustained bite. You can catch a few and then have to move to new area. Streamers have been working the best with the cloud cover. It is predicted that next week will have some sunshine and everything should be working better. Midges, worms and scuds should be great choices. In the afternoons, a dry-dropper may be a good selection.\n

Not much info on the boulder field this week. With the higher flows, it has been difficult fishing in this area. Sunday is low water day and that is the time to fish in this area. Streamers would be best here.\n

From the big boulder down there are good numbers of fish. Nymph rigs with midges, San Juan worms or glo bugs will be working here with some sunlight. Streamers have been working well here. The more flash the better with streamers. Olive flash streamers have been working the best. Weekdays see almost no one fishing here, last weekend I counted four fishermen here\n

The area by the Paria confluence is very dangerous due to the high water event of November and flooding due to rains in Utah. This area has some very deep holes and the bank is very slippery. It is best if you fish just above the confluence and be very alert to deep water areas. Streamers are best in this area. At times, a dry-dropper can work in the afternoon.\n

I would rate the walk-in a 4.5 for this week.\n","spinsum":"

With the higher flows, spin fishing has been working very well in the afternoon.\u00a0 The area from the big boulder to the Paria riffle has been doing really well on Kastmasters, Panther Martins and jigs.\u00a0 Gold is the color that really gets good numbers of grabs and larger fish at that.\n

For jigs, use 1\/4-ounce in olive and black or just black or brown.\u00a0 Fishing spinners in the walk-in is the same technique as fishing streamers with a fly rod.\u00a0 Get a loop in your line for the streamer swing and move back toward you.\u00a0 Most strikes will happen as the jig moves quickly up and toward the shore.\u00a0 Also, remember that we recommend 4-pound test line with a 6- or 7-foot rod.\u00a0\u00a0 You can also fish at Paria Beach area making long casts with very slow retrieves.\u00a0\u00a0 Keep in mind that you need to get your offering deep in the water column to be effective, so slow retrieves are crucial to getting into the feeding zone faster.\n

I would rate the walk-in spin fishing as a 6.5 this week.\n

Fish Behavior 101. Some thoughts on why fish eat and why they don\u2019t. \u201cAny man who claims to understand fish is a fool.\u201d T G\n

Fish are weird; there is just no getting around it. One day they are jumping in the boat, the next, they are nowhere to be found. Some people say that this is what keeps bringing us back to the stream, that this uncertainty we call \u201cfishing\u201d makes us more competitive. After all these years I do understand a little about fish and I would like to share some ideas on why fish are happy one day and not the next. \u00a0 First and foremost the fish have to be present in the area of water that you are fishing. Fish are not always going to be in the same spot. This is especially true at Lees Ferry where you have water that fluctuates on a daily and monthly basis. A spot that is stacked with fish at one flow may be a \u201cfish desert\u201d at another level. FOOD and SHELTER: the two things that determine the location of fish. If there is no food present there is no reason for a fish to be in a specific location. However, if you find the highest concentration of food, you will always find the highest concentration of fish, assuming that this concentration of food has been present long enough for the fish to locate it.\n

At Lees Ferry we have two different major feeding plots (each with hundreds of sub-plots). The first is PROLIFIC MIDGE HATCHES. Midges hatch throughout the year; however, by far the largest hatches occur in the spring. The lifecycle of a midge is very similar to a butterfly; the adult midge\u2019s sole purpose is to make babies. In a nut shell, this is how it works\u2026the adult midge mates with other midges in a swarm, then the female lands on the water to lay the fertilized eggs, she stays on the water for a second or so then flies off the water and then lands again to lay more eggs (this is a survival mechanism which helps protect her from being eaten by a fish). The eggs slowly sink and eventually hatch into a larvae (think of a tiny caterpillar) the midge lives as a larvae for a long time, living in the algae and mud. Then though some miracle of nature the midge larvae get a call to pupate in mass, (think of a butterfly chrysalis). As they pupate the midge, encased in a hard protective husk, slowly floats to the surface. The size and color of the midge pupae varies with the specie and with 50 different species of midges inhabiting Lees Ferry we have a large variety of sizes and colors of pupae. When the pupae reaches the surface, the midge hatches through the husk and the adult midge crawls out, dries his wings and flies off to repeat the entire process. \u00a0 Fish do feed on adult midges but mostly on the carcasses of dead midges that accumulate in back-eddies. The importance of a midge as a food source occurs in the emerging stage. When midges hatch they often do so in mass numbers and for long durations. The fish know this is happening and move into the riffles to feed on the emerging midges.\n

WHY DO FISH MOVE INTO RIFFLES TO FEED ON MIDGES? Midge pupae are small, anywhere from a size #18 to #30. It takes a lot of midges to sustain a Lees Ferry trout; however, if you were to measure the midges as a percentage of total biomass, they far exceed all other food sources combined. Riffles are areas of river where the water transitions from very shallow to slowly deeper water. Do not confuse \u201cpoints\u201d with riffles, they look similar, however, the water on \u201cpoints\u201d transitions from shallow to deep in a short area. Fish move into the shallowest part of the riffles to feed on the CONCENTRATED MIDGES. Imagine if you had a thousand midges in a column of water that was 3-feet deep versus 6-inches deep, the midges are going to be much more concentrated in the 6-inch deep water. This is why we often tell people that they are wading in areas that they should be fishing. \u00a0 The other kicker to midge hatches is water volume: as the water flow increase the midge hatches decrease. This is something that I do not understand but I know it to be true. So the best midge fishing is always in lower water flows. If I were to put a number to it I would say the best midge fishing is in water less than 14,000-cfs. This is why in the spring, (March, April, and May) some of our best fishing is on the weekends when the water is at the lowest level of the week. We often see good midge hatches in September and October, but not the mass swarms that happen in the spring.\n

The other situation that makes fish eat at Lees Ferry is HIGH WATER FLOWS. Anytime the water flows are high (above 16,000-cfs) food is dislodged, moved around, and transported by the current. Here we are talking about WORMS and SCUDS. High water flows normally occur 4 months each year, the 2 hottest months, July and August, and the 2 coldest months, December and January\u2026this is all about electrical demand and high demand equals high flows. There are exceptions and high flows can occur at other times if there is a high lake level in Lake Powell and high runoff into the lake. This happened 1983-86 and a couple of other times in the 90\u2019s. The best fishing periods at Lees Ferry has always been preceded by periods of higher than normal water flows. In high water the fish will concentrate in the rifles and the tail out of the riffles to feed on the drifting food. In addition to the riffles, feeding fish can be found though longs runs between riffles. This is the time of year that the most productive fishing is usually from a drifting boat as opposed to wading.\n

WEATHER. Any change in the weather can shut off fish feeding. I cannot explain why this happens, however I guarantee you that it is true. I was in Placentia, Belize last year fishing with noted guide Eworth Gartbutt. A cold front was pushing through (it dropped to a frigid 78 degrees) and Eworth said \u201cTerry, you realize that permit fishing and a north wind do not go together.\u201d I thought to myself how \u201cfishing is fishing\u201d no matter where you are in the world. \u00a0 Impending weather change make fish at Lees Ferry not want to eat. It might look like a normal day, the sun may be shining and not a breeze is blowing but a storm is on the way and the fish know it and for whatever reason they decide to take the day off from eating. I saw it this week when I was fishing with a customer that I have fished with for 2 decades and the weather that day was a classic cold front, it was windy, cold, and spitting rain. My client is a good stick and at the end of the day he had landed 2 fish and his companion had landed 3 fish and they were all smaller fish. The next day started cold but warmed quickly due to the cloudless day and bright sunshine. They landed more than 30-fish including a 19-in football and several fish that were in the 18-in range. If they would have only fished the one day that might have concluded that the fishing at Lees Ferry sucks or that we are \u201cblowing smoke\u201d or overrating how good the fishing is\u2026that actually happened with one trip last month when a couple of guys had a similar experience fishing with me one day with a cold front pushing through. \u00a0 So poor weather makes for poor fishing most of the time, however, there are exceptions and I have seen some great fishing on days the wind is howling and the snow is flying. Often times the impending or approaching weather is worse on fishing that the bad weather itself. I can\u2019t explain this but I can tell you that more often than not, a change in the weather will affect fishing in a negative way.\n","waterTemp":48.2,"flowRate":"12100"}